ChurchKey

The Luther: that is the reason to come here.

It's a sandwich of fried chicken on a doughnut topped with bacon and buttered pecans.

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Sorry, my heart stopped for a second.

Before you race over here, know that it is off-menu and only available at brunch on Saturdays. Or at least that's what the guy told me when I called. But then he also put me down for a reservation for two, and then when I called a few days before coming in, a different person answered and told me they don't take reservations and acted like I was crazy.

This Luther sandwich is insane. It's probably too overwhelming for some, but it was right up my alley. It is quite a mess and tough to eat, but it's worth it. Most shocking of all, it costs just $10, with a side of delicious, hot, crispy fries included.

Even if that sounds like too much to handle for you, it's still a decent place to try. We also went with some more beige and got the Fried Chicken & Waffles ($15), which were pretty excellent too. The brunch menu is pretty small, I guess mostly because this is more of a bar with a few delicious entrees to choose from.

Other things to note are that it was completely empty and I really didn't need to worry about a reservation, and that it was incredibly dark in there. I'm not sure if the waiters were just lazy or couldn't see us, but we had to hunt them down every time we wanted something.

The restaurant downstairs though, Birch & Barley, run by the same owners, was packed. If I could do it all over again, I would make reservations for brunch at Birch & Barley downstairs. Then, I would go upstairs and skip all the other stuff but have The Luther for lunch number two/dessert. Now that would be satisfying.

I waited at the bar for a few minutes because a friend was going to join me for dinner.  I looked at the menu and the food selection seemed blah.  It might be because they focus on beers and other drinks.  Fancy words for regular food.  I had to ask what this was and what that was.  Some of the words the bartenders couldn't pronounce or even know what they were.  I think they did but didn't feel like explaining it to me.  There were four servers who came up to me and made me feel uncomfortable...like I was an imposition because I was waiting for someone (who was ten minutes away and it was pretty empty that evening.  They couldn't even tell me how much was 4 oz...I asked to explain because I don't know the metric system. So, it became a discussion among a few people who quickly turned their back on me when I was ready to order.  I didn't catch any names...but WAY too much attitude.  I had to walk out because they seemed to be too snobby for me.  I'll give it a try next time; howver, I'd probably have to go by myself because I wouldn't want anyone to experience it if it turns out poorly.  Because I WILL make it right immediately.  Good luck tyring to get the business of this customer, ChurchKey

First, the decor was really nice. I loved how they had all kind of different beer bottles displayed and lined all the way up the walls. I also really liked the lighting. It was pretty dark, but I prefer bars to look that way. Although, in the back of the bar there was an even more dimmed down area and it was more personal. People were sitting close to each other and closer to the floor. Kind of like a lounge area. Our seats were very high up and that was nice. They also had tvs for games and such.

We didn't go into the food menu too much, as we were there to explore the beer list. The food menu is limited, but the beer list was diverse.

The prices were reasonable. We ordered a couple different flights and the waitress explained to us how they served their beers and why, temp, etc. Very informative.The staff were all very nice and checked up on us often and they cleared our glasses quickly.

A majority of the customers were younger, but there was a range of different ages and people, which is great.

It's a very chill place and I highly recommend it.

I will definitely go back to ChurchKey next time I'm in DC!